Wednesday 27 April 2011

slugs and snails and puppy dogs tails

I have an issue. I am writing about it here in the hopes that I shall learn that I am not a freak and that in fact other sane people feel the same way about this..

I hate slugs. I mean I HATE BLASTED SLUGS!!! They are evil and should only eat stuff I don't like and then die a happy death with food in their mouths as a beautiful little birdie swallows them whole. There glad we got that out in the open.

When I see a slug on my rounds (patrols) of the lottie I get a little touch maddened and tend to pick him up and fling him as far as I can way into the hedgerow (or to be perfectly honest, sometimes into someone else's plot - yes shame on me, but the anger takes over and I just lose it).

Here is a particularly nasty fellow - even looking at this photo makes me want to chuck something.....

Now snails also come under the banner of 'the enemy', for what is a snail but a slug with a house. But here is where the issue lies....I can't hate a snail as much as I hate a slug.

Is it precisely because of the house on their backs that I like them a little more - am I elitist?? Do I see the snail as more worthy of being left alone merely because it has a shell??? Somewhere deep down do I see the snail as more advanced than the slug and worry for it's ability to pay those mortgage direct debits??? I fear I do. Oh, lordy I never thought of myself as a snob but when I see a snail I think - 'oh you shouldn't be here eating my food; I think I'll just move you carefully over here anyway from my plot' and I carry the damned thing to the hedgerow. What is all that about?? I mean look at it - it's hardy gorgeous under that shell!


Does anyone out there the same? or the question should probably be: Is anyone out there willing to admit they feel the same?

Oh yeah, and puppy dog's tails was just because of the nursery rhyme - here's Maggie's tail though...


Tomorrow we shall do a major catch up (with photos) on the miracles we have worked on our plots :) I have the text started and the photos uploaded at least!
Hugs

11 comments:

  1. I know exactly what you mean, slugs v snails - I own up to feeling a difference - actually I have an 'almost fear' of slugs, that hole that opens up in the side of their heads, and when they twist around each other, ugh, and I don't want their slime on me - irrational?! As a child I knew a gardener who always trod on them, he wore hobnail boots and the slugs burst, shooting their innards some distance, or sometimes sticking to the boots.

    Not sure we can forgive throwing onto someone else's plot though!

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  2. oh good god why?! Jennifer, why??! did i read that whilst waiting for my dinner to cook! I feel physically sick, I didn't even think about the slime *bokes in corner* when writing this.
    Thank you for also having the same issues with them though - it's good to share x
    I do regret my total honesty re: the throwing of slugs into other people's plots *blush*

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  3. No no here ISN'T Maggie's tail. Someone, has taken it away ...

    I can love almost all wildlife, but those particularly large yellow banana slugs - so glad ours are just small brownish ones, that get eaten by snakes.

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  4. Oh yes impress us with your story of snakes but that can not take away from the fact that you believe My Maggie has lost her tail! Some evil person did dock it at some point before we adopted her but we tell her that her tail is gorgeous and You, YOU say it isn't there - well I never! *weep*
    lol

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  5. I think I have an equel dislike for slugs and snails to be honest, both get 'lobbed' when found (although I do try to avoid other plots... lol). We're pretty lucky on the allotment, not many of either, but at home we seem infested with the damn things!

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  6. Paul and Melanie - thank you, I am not the only 'lobber' but god I wish I'd lied about the other people's plots bit - it's only a couple of times, honest!!! Don't look at me like that!!!

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  7. I don't like snails in the garden but they are fascinating to watch. I have another question - well two really - why when so many people lob snails doesn't one land on someone's head and why in evolutionary terms have they not yet developed wings?

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  8. GAL - I only lob in relative privacy and as for wings, aahhhhhhhh, run for the hills, that is such a scary idea!!!!! (shhh, they might hear!) xx

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  9. Carrie,

    This a great post. I laughed all the way through it. I loved how you talked feeling differently about the snail versus the slug:~)

    When I visit the beach, I feel the same thing about hermit crabs and regular crabs. Hermit crabs are a different type of crab, but my reaction the Hermit crab with it shell home is to go...AWWWW..isn't he cute. Whereas, my reaction to regular crab is to run:~)

    Favor to ask: I have a guest at my site who has written a fiction story. It's her first time putting one up at someone's site. If you get chance, can you stop by?

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  10. hugs to you Sara - love that you have a similiar issue lol.
    Off to your blog right away xxx

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  11. Hi, I'm Sara's guest blogger and I want to thank you for visiting. This has been such an exciting experience for me.
    Slugs or snails don't seem to bother me (probably because I rarely see them) but I do go crazy with sugar ants in the spring. They love to come in through the window after it begins to warm up and it is so hard to get rid of them. I try to be positive and think it is truly a sign of warmer weather and beautiful things to come but that only works some of the time. I really enjoyed meeting you and reading your post.

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